Oyster River sophomore Maegan Doody has been named Foster’s girls’ cross country runner of the year. (Democrat file photo)

DURHAM — To get into the winner’s circle Maegan Doody had to get out of her comfort zone.

Typically a frontrunner, the Oyster River High School sophomore had to get accustomed to looking at the back of the other girls’ heads.

“It took a long time to get used to it,” Doody said. “It’s scary watching people pull away from you. Being patient is something you really have to work towards. It took me the whole season to kind of figure it out, but it all came together at the race that mattered.”

That would be the cross country Meet of Champions where the drastic change in strategy was worth the angst when Doody passed and then out-kicked the three other contenders to win the race at the Nashua South course going away.

She finished 6.3 seconds ahead of Hollis-Brookline’s Emma Newton, who hadn’t lost a race all season. Coe-Brown’s Elisabeth Danis took third, two seconds behind Newton. Exeter’s Shannon Murdock faded to a distant fourth.

“I made my move with about a half mile to go,” Doody said. “I didn’t think I would be able to get myself in first, but once I did it was like ‘OK, there’s no going back now. I’m just going to let this happen.’ So I pulled away … and just gave everything I had because I had something saved at the very end.”

Doody’s winning time was 18 minutes, 12 seconds. Not bad for someone whose goal was the break 18:40 this season. She utilized her speed and training as an 800-meter runner in outdoor track to accelerate down the stretch.

That performance made Doody the obvious choice for Foster’s girls cross country runner of the year. She was also named New Hampshire’s Gatorade runner of the year.

“With a mile to go there was a pack of four,” said OR girls cross country coach Fergus Cullen. “Maegan took the lead and buried the girl over the last quarter of a mile. With her 2:12 speed in the 800 there was nothing (Newton) could do and (Doody) just pulled away. The way she opened up that lead over the last quarter mile shows just what a devastating kick she has.”

Winning the Meet of Champions was the crowning achievement of a terrific season in which Doody finished second at the Division II meet and 11th at New Englands, less than a second out of 10th. Both of those races were held at Manchester’s Derryfield Park.

“She led for most of the Division II race,” Cullen said. “She ran out of gas on the last mile, but she hung tough. She learned from that experience. She ran a much smarter race at the Meet of Champs.

“Maegan was getting closer and closer, and learning all the time,” he added. “She put it together when it mattered most.”

Doody was the second New Hampshire runner to cross the finish line at New Englands behind Coe-Brown standout Hannah Parker, who was ninth overall, 2.1 seconds ahead of Doody.

“It was basically taking all of my competition and putting it into one race which I hadn’t done before,” Doody said. “It was a lot more intense, but it was great to be able to run with such a strong pack of girls to have them set the pace and give me a better shot at pulling through at the end.

“I knew I had a shot at winning it,” she added. “I wasn’t expecting to win, but I knew that I had a shot and I just went for it.”

Doody also finished ahead of Newton at New Englands where Newton wound up 19th. Doody turned in a time of 18:18.2. Although she was looking for a top-10 finish, she was satisfied with the result, given the circumstances.

“I was happy with 11th because of how challenging that race was mentally,” Doody said. “I was in tears at the end of the race because it was so intense. I never felt so much pressure and nerves before. I think it was a good close to my season because I broke my PR on the Manchester course, and I thought I placed fairly well considering the talent that was in the field.”

Despite finishing third behind Newton and Danis at the Division II meet, Doody was confident going into the Meet of Champions.

It’s not like she had a lot of time to make up. Doody finished three seconds behind Newton and one second behind Danis.

“At the other races I would put myself at the front,” Doody said. “Usually when I was racing against (Newton) I always put myself ahead of her and I would feel good until she would pass me about halfway through. That’s why at the Meet of Champions I decided to hang behind everybody else and watch the race develop. I got myself in a position where I was going to have a lot left at the end.”

It proved to be an ideal vantage point.

“It was a really difficult race mentally,” Doody said. “It’s a long time to think about who was going to win this. It was a lot of pressure. It was hard to prepare for it. … I was expecting to run down the hill right before the finish line and have (Newton) pass me. I kept turning around … I couldn’t help it. I was kind of in disbelief.

“I didn’t feel that confident until the last mile and I was still up there and I still felt strong,” Doody added. “That’s when I knew I could win.”

Cullen said Doody’s mechanics are “outstanding. She’s so smooth, she’s so fluid. She shifts into another gear and accelerates extremely fast.

“She does have natural talent,” Cullen said. “Cross country is a sport that rewards hard work, and she does that. But at the elite level hard work takes you only so far. She’s been able to marry that work ethic with her ability.”

Despite all of her late-season accomplishments, Doody’s breakthrough race might have come at the Manchester Invitational where she finished second overall.

She was also the first New Hampshire runner to cross the finish line.

“I wasn’t expecting to get second,” Doody said. “I kind of went into that race with an open mind, knowing that it was going to tell how the rest of the season was going to be. It was definitely a confidence-booster.”

Last year Doody was sixth in the Division II race, ninth at the Meet of Champions and 52nd at New Englands.

“We knew she had ability,” Cullen said. “She wasn’t a dominant freshman runner, but she was an outstanding freshman runner. This year she took it up another level or two.”

Although only a sophomore, Doody leads by example.

“Maegan is the kind of athlete that raises the standard for her teammates in terms of the way they perform and the way they train,” Cullen said. “Her impact on the program goes beyond herself.”